They may look like travel shampoo bottles and smell like bubblegum, but after a few hundred puffs, some disposable, electronic cigarettes and vape pods release higher amounts of toxic metals than older e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. For example, one of the disposable e-cigarettes studied released more lead during a day’s use than nearly 20 packs of traditional cigarettes.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    4 hours ago

    Guess I’m gonna be ultra fucked. I’m not going back to cigarettes. And I already quit nicotine once for seven and a half years. Starting again was the biggest mistake of my life cause I don’t wanna go through that again. Oh well, it’s not like we have much chance at a future anyway.

    • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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      2 hours ago

      Dude, I hope you try to quit those too. If you’ve ever met someone who can’t breathe from COPD, it’s a tough time for them.

    • Plurrbear@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      **PROMOTED BY THE “MAD MEN” AT LUCKY STRIKE!

      Just have a cocktail and smoke a cig, it’s better than weed and ecigs! How dare you switch because of rat poison found in our cigs and how the RICH banded hemp due to lobbying by the paper people… not due to anything else! Cool!

  • Grizzlyboy@lemmy.zip
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    20 hours ago

    I can’t fathom how they’re legal. Disposable e cigarettes? The waste is insane, and the people using then aren’t properly disposing of them either…

      • rumba@lemmy.zip
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        8 hours ago

        I buy small lithium ion batteries all the time. Recycling and free is much cooler though

        • HugeNerd@lemmy.ca
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          3 hours ago

          Do you recycle condoms you find on the ground too? Vapes are probably the most disgusting thing recently invented.

  • catty@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    Do these threats exist in the exhaled smoke? It seems like people around me don’t GAF about the exhaust from vapes.

    • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
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      5 hours ago

      Sure, but the diesel bus that just drove by you gave you way more cancer than Brad with his Vanilla Mocha vape did.

    • MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      Those people are jackasses and should be shamed. I quit a 6 year cigarette smoking habit with just one year of using an actual vape, not these shitty gas station things. One of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The potential for smoking cessation is there. But stupid and obnoxious people set the basis for stereotypes.

      • catty@lemmy.world
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        17 hours ago

        But omg didn’t he look oh so cool blowing out that massive puff of white toxins from his mouth and nose?

        • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          If you’re blowing clouds like that you’re not using the disposable vapes the article talks about. You’re using sub-ohm coils and a larger rig capable of heating coils designed for the task of making big clouds. You’re also using a liquid with a relatively low concentration of freebase nicotine.

          Disposables vapes use higher concentrations of nicotine in a salt form rather than freebase, and much smaller quantities of liquid per puff, to deliver a hit that feels more like a cigarette.

          Back when I vaped I made my own coils, though eventually I moved on to temperature-controlled ones, which require a purity of metal not found in the cheap-ass nic-salt disposables.

          The toxicity is from the coils in the disposables, not from the eliquid and not from rigs.

            • Tang@lemmy.world
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              5 hours ago

              Not positive, but I think it was stated or implied that the toxins were in the liquid because they were leeched from the coil.

            • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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              5 hours ago

              Okay, well, again, don’t use disposables. Get your eliquid from a reputable shop. Or mix your own. I did, it’s not hard.

          • catty@lemmy.world
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            13 hours ago

            The toxicity is from the coils in the disposables, not from the eliquid and not from rigs.

            Lemmy, where the real knowledge they don’t want you know know is, not facebook/conspiracy anymore, but this shit right here.

        • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          The cool factor isn’t even there for me. These clowns look like they’re smoking an iPod.

  • Squiddork@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    If you read the paper, it assumes a 100% absorption rate of the heavy metals emitted.

    I’m not here to defend vapes but I think that is a seriously overlooked flaw in this study. Most people don’t puff a cigarette/vape and hold it in their lungs until it’s completely absorbed.

    Couldn’t see anything about the bioavailability of these carcinogens via lungs factored into the absorption rate either.

    Ontop of that the sample size from this study is abysmal and from the same manufacturer and there is also a declared conflict of interest.

    IMO more studies need to be done before we can conclusively determine the damage and risks of disposable vapes.

    • vxx@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      They’re comparing it to cigarettes and other vapes.

      20 times more lead is still 20 times more lead.

      • Squiddork@lemmy.world
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        22 hours ago

        Cigarettes have a myriad of carcinogens like toluene, benzene, formadelhyde, hexamine, napthaline and acetone

        Stating that vapes are more toxic than cigarettes over one metric is disingenuous journalism.

        I’m not disagreeing about the lead content but studies like this get picked up by journalists with the comprehension of a tomato and are then misconstrued into these fear-creating headlines for engagement.

        The adoption of vapes tremendously ate into the big tobacco profits, its an extremely effective way of getting off cigarettes. (for better or worse)

        If we instead listened to these studies and developed a similar form of nicotine replacement therapy with harm minimisation in mind under industry regulation we’d do far more for smokers, vapers and our healthcare systems than any fear mongering ‘don’t do it!’ campaigns which time and time again do not work.

        • dil@lemmy.zip
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          17 hours ago

          lol these ppl didnt experience the ecig subreddit before and after podvapes and tobacco panicking, wild how vaping was made to seem like its worde than literal smoke and thousands of chemicals in your lung lol, also there are cities where breathing is smoking a pack or two a week, or worse maybe, bakersfield ca is like that, guess you can smokehella and live to old age f it

        • vxx@lemmy.world
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          22 hours ago

          I said they tested them against cigarettes and older vapes.

          You’re the one msirepresenting the study.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
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    1 day ago

    The three “brands” they tested are all from the same outfit, who most certainly sources them all from the same sweatshop in China. This does not apply to all disposables by any stretch. There’s plenty of better reasons to dunk on disposables.

    • Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub
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      15 hours ago

      Also, it’s only disposables. I use the rebuildable rtm coils with tiny microcoils I wind myself and cotton at 12W, and I’ve had my blood tested recently per a physcial and lead was on the sheet at a negligible amount.

      Some other dude might use an entirely different brand, someone might use pods, someone might use old gear, set in their ways.

      And the coils for all of these setups range from pieces of mesh to metal plates to wound pieces of wire to ceramic disks to who knows what. There is no standard.

    • REDACTED@infosec.pub
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      21 hours ago

      I saw this same exact comment under another thread that talked about a study, but it was clearly wrong as they were from different parent companies. In this case, the brands aren’t even named in the study. Again, I must ask for source for your claim, but again I don’t expect you to provide it.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
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        16 hours ago

        Because it’s the same headline on every article. Also, someone else posted the study.

          • neatchee@lemmy.world
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            2 hours ago

            Since nobody else will provide the actual clarity

            EscobarVape and Elfbar are created by two separate Chinese companies, Shenzhen Innokin Technology Co. Ltd and Shenzhen iMiracle Technology respectively. Mi-Bar is created by an American company but has partnered with Elfbar to distribute Elfbar products in the US

            Really wish more people would just provide the facts that speak for themselves, rather than point fingers about who is and isn’t doing their research

    • womjunru@lemmy.cafe
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      1 day ago

      Yeah keep on trying to justify your habit. Just admit they’re bad but you like them anyway.

      • BassTurd@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Where was the justification in that post? Did you just wake up this morning and decide to be a dick or is this just normal you?

      • Jake Farm@sopuli.xyz
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        So expecting actual scientific evidence instead of going based on the vibes of moralizers is just rationalization? Also did you even read their last sentence? Invalid.

        • womjunru@lemmy.cafe
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          1 day ago

          Actual scientific study. Gets called not a scientific study. No one looks for the studies of other brands. Angry vaper calls scientists “moralizers,” demands study that favors their views.

          Invalid.

          • Jake Farm@sopuli.xyz
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            5 hours ago

            You are the dullwit that is trying to apply a study about Chinese made disposable vapes to all vaping.

            • womjunru@lemmy.cafe
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              5 hours ago

              You’re the dullwit who thinks there’s nothing wrong with inhaling propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, and whatever they fuck is in the “flavor”

              Just admit it’s bad for you and then keep doing it, because it’s your fucking body— And I don’t give a shit. But it’s immoral to tell people there’s nothing wrong with it, when they’re definitely is.

      • AmosBurton_ThatGuy@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        Yes vaping is worse than not vaping. Its bad. I like them anyway.

        Why don’t you take your judgemental attitude and fuck right off bud.

        “How dare you not live life the way I think you should!!!”

        Christ you people are so annoying.

        • womjunru@lemmy.cafe
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          1 day ago

          That interpretation is your own opinion, and not reality. I don’t care if they do it. Just stop pretending it’s not bad. No one should be inhaling a heated/burning chemical that smells and tastes like bubble gum and produces a “smoke” like vapor when you exhale.

          What I think is annoying is people who keep trying to make it not sound bad.

          • AmosBurton_ThatGuy@lemmy.ca
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            1 day ago

            I literally said it’s bad. I agree, in an ideal world no one would be smoking or vaping or drinking etc the list goes on and on.

            We don’t live in an ideal world.

            If I could go back in time and stop my dumbass 16 year old self from smoking, I would. I’m just sick of dipshits like you acting all high and mighty because you don’t have an addiction and don’t understand how hard it is to get off nicotine.

            Let people live their lives as they want and mind your own god damn business man. Not that hard.

            • Devmapall@lemmy.zip
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              1 day ago

              I wrote a big long post but it boils down I agree with you and you wrote it better.

              I beat alcohol after years of trying and more than one rehab. Quitting nicotine right now seems more daunting than the drug that ruined most of my life. It’s that addictive and vaping personally feels better for me than smoking a cigarette.

              • AmosBurton_ThatGuy@lemmy.ca
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                1 day ago

                Congrats! I enjoy my drinks a little more than I should, it’s hard to get past that feeling of “I’m bored, a few beers would be nice”. Seriously, good for you, I’m happy you finally beat it!

                Nicotine is hard because it doesn’t have such a strong effect on your life the way alcohol does and it’s (mostly) accepted as a vice that isn’t that big of a deal. No one at work is gonna judge you for having a vape/smoke break like they would if they smelled alcohol on your breath for example. It doesn’t make you hungover, or irritable, or tired because you stayed up to late etc. It simply becomes a part of your daily routine and that’s the hardest part about giving it up. I’ve been addicted to nicotine for 15 years now, 6 on smokes and 9 on vaping. Almost half my life at this point. I’ve tried 5 times to quit and I’ve never been able to make it past a week.

            • womjunru@lemmy.cafe
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              1 day ago

              Don’t have an addiction? Who said I didn’t smoke for 15 years? Who said I didn’t use “ecigs” for 5 years. Who said I wasn’t off and on those nicotine mints for years? Who said I don’t fuuuukkinggg love opiates? Who said I haven’t struggled with alcoholism for decades?

              You know who’s high and mighty? You.

              I don’t pretend my problems are “okay” because I can still hold down a job.

                • womjunru@lemmy.cafe
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                  1 day ago

                  That’s not what I said — that’s a misrepresentation you’ve cobbled together by ignoring most of my comment and twisting the rest to suit your own narrative.

      • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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        15 hours ago

        It’s not from the coil, at least in the cases that this article is about, but other parts of the tank. Shitty manufacturing, anyways

        • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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          12 hours ago

          Or just another shitty study like the one they did in Oregon where they fired the coils for 60 seconds at a time and literally melted the rigs down before measuring what chemicals off gassed from the smoldering pile of plastic and metal.

      • tankfox@midwest.social
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        20 hours ago

        If the coil is getting red hot it’s not producing vapor anymore. Vapor is just boiled oil and the boiling happens at a lower temperature than red hot by a significant amount, and the whole system is configured that the incoming vape juice cools the coil in the process of becoming vapor. This study is about as significant as noticing that if you set the filter of a cigarette on fire it can produce extra-toxic chemicals. No shit, but that’s not how they work.

        More bullshit ads for plant based vaping alternatives; cigarettes.

        • 3abas@lemmy.world
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          20 hours ago

          I’ve wrapped enough coils to know they do in fact get red hot. Ask anybody who built coils how many times they’ve had to throw away a tank full because they ran it too fast and it burnt.

          You trust the disposables to supply enough juice to keep the coil from every getting red hot? You trust the coil to be made of safer metals?

          • tankfox@midwest.social
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            14 hours ago

            I think you kinda made my point for me, once the cart has hit the temperature at which it releases those chemicals the cart is immediately ruined. This kind of goes to my ‘if you burn the whole cigarette including the filter the net result is even more toxic’. I mean, sure, but that’s really gross data manipulation.

            • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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              17 hours ago

              Yes and no. I used to build my own coils for my cloud machine. When you first build it, before putting in cotton you want to get it red hot once or twice. This serves a couple purposes. First it both expand and softens the metal so the loops are separated and the electricity has to go all the way around the individual coils. Second, it burns off whatever manufacturing residue that’s left on the wire.

              Once you have a wick and juice though, it boils drawing away heat and the coil shouldn’t be getting red hot any more.

              • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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                15 hours ago

                Man, I miss that first fire of a fresh coil before you’ve wicked it, letting it get red-hot and then pressing it together to solidify the shape. Watching for shorts. On complicated windings it’s always so pretty.

                Glad I don’t still consume nicotine, but there were parts of the process I loved.

          • console.log(bathing_in_bismuth)@sh.itjust.works
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            17 hours ago

            Thank you, this is the angle I needed for my brains to get it.

            My take; clogged watt-limited dispossible vape doesn’t get enough airflow, burns the coil. Still not sure where the lead comes from but I get that might release metals. Thanks!

            • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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              16 hours ago

              Still not sure where the lead comes from

              Countries with low manufacturing standards; historically one would assume China but that’s not necessarily the case nowadays

              • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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                12 hours ago

                Why is a byproduct of ‘regulations’ that don’t allow them to be manufactured in a place with reasonable safety standards. Its not too different than when the US poisoned the alcohol supply and killed or maimed a bunch of people. All they reported at the time was that alcohol/moonshine is dangerous but it was only because the government made it that way by design not something inherent to the product itself.

  • Jake Farm@sopuli.xyz
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    1 day ago

    Where? Why? Is it a quality control issue or an inherent danger of the technology?

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Regulatory issues. Adulterants in shitty quality disposables.

      Not “vaping inherently dangerous.”

    • TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      the disposables are the problem. probably manufacturing or regulations. the way the coils aren’t changed, the way it sits in it, the way they use highly concentrated nicotine salts… it’s nothing like the classic refillable tank and box mods that just took regular juice with nothing but PG/VG/nicotine/flavoring

      • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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        Could also be due to soldering the resistance wire itself in place, or something else that’s in contact with the juice. These guys often ship these in international parcel shipping direct to consumer. That means a lot of shocks and they want to make sure the disposable works when whoever they sold it to(and who clicked "why of course I’m 18) so they don’t have to deal with returns. Non disposable vapes do not have solder points in any part of tank or atomizer because they’re generally assembled with o rings and threads. These are not.

        • Gigasser@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          It’s adulterants and the solder used. I believe you can access the study through the article itself. It should tell you some of the sources of heavy metals.

        • dai@lemmy.world
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          15 hours ago

          I’d be pretty surprised to see lead solder used in these applications, lead free is the defacto standard and has been for a long time. Not in vapes but any consumer electronics device.

          More than likely it’s the mesh coils used having some lead present.

    • catty@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      People want to ingest a harmful drug and not see that as a threat to their health?

      • dai@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        Nicotine isn’t really harmful, aside from the rediculously addictive nature it’s what a vasoconstrictor?

        Much like caffeine it has some decent properties for focus / cognitive abilities.

        The main downfall is how it’s consumed by the majority of the population. Durries are overall awful. The stench, accidental burns and all the inhaling burning plant matter leading to cancer thing.

        • Gigasser@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          Nicotine can be bad for your cardiovascular health. It can lead to hardening of arteries over time. Vasoconstrictive effects of nicotine are also really bad for oral health and can encourage development of gingivitis/gum disease, a reminder that loss of gums can be permanent. I vape, been trying to quit, been on and off. It’s an insidious habit to kick. I won’t discount that it can be good for focus tho, lol.

        • catty@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          Nicotine isn’t really harmful,

          lol #1

          Much like caffeine it has some decent properties for focus / cognitive abilities.

          lol #2

          lobby harder.

            • catty@lemmy.world
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              11 hours ago

              lol #3

              (It was such a stupid statement, one doesn’t need to).

              • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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                10 hours ago

                Yeah it’s totally because everything is “stupid” and not the fact that you have no argument outside of superficial fearmongering which falls apart under the slightest scrutiny. It’s so stupid that you keep replying with nonsense talking about how anyone else’s statements are unworthy of replying to 🙄

  • Darleys_Brew@lemmy.ml
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    17 hours ago

    Doesn’t surprise me for the USA, but how does this apply to the rest of the world?

      • Psythik@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Given how short the DMT trip is—and the fact that DMT vapes are a thing now—this is entirely possible. I mean I’ve done it. It’s a lot harder to break through than you think. You’re still going to be mostly grounded with reality. You’ll have some trippy thoughts and see some pretty neat visuals, then it’s back to normal in under 10 minutes.

        That said, I would still only recommend this to people who have tripped at least once before. If you’re looking to replace your oral fixation, I’d recommend a 1:1:1 weed vape for day-to-day use, and a higher THC live resin formula for the evenings.